Improvement in cartridge-retractors for revolving fire-arms



R. 1). 0. SMITH Revolver.

o, 43,529. Patented July 12, 1864 PETERS, PNOTO-LITHOGRAPHEELWASHINGTON. D. Q

PATENT FFICE.

R. 0. SMITH, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARTRIDGE-RETRACTORS FOR REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,529, dated July 12,1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, R. D. 0. SMITH, of Washington,in the county ofWashington and District of Columbia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the followingto be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe-accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view or elevationof a revolver having my improvement attached. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinalsection of the same. Fig. at exhibits the rear end of the cylinder. Fig.5 is a rear view of the recoilplate. Fig. 6 is another rear view of thesame. Fig. 7 is an inside view of the side plate. Fig. 8 is a verticalcross-section of the same through the line as 00. Fig. 9 exhibits theshape and action of the noses of the hammer. Fig. 10 is a plan view ofthe retractor; Fig. 11, a front view of the retractor-cam. Fig. 12exhibits the cam and dog spring. Diagram 13 exhibits the action of thecam in withdrawing the retractor and releasing it again. Diagram 14exhibits the action of the cam when the hammer returns. Diagram 15 showsthe method of setting the cam so that it will not operate the retractorwhen the pistol is cooked the first time. Diagram 16 is a view of theopposite side of the hammer, showing the cam-lever. Diagram 17 shows thearrangement of parts when the device is to be operated by pushingforward instead of drawing back.

The nature of my invention consists in providing a revolving fire-arm inwhich metallic cartridge-fixed ammunition is used with an automaticdevice for removing from the chamber the metallic shells after thecartridge has been exploded.

That the construction and operation of my device may be understood, Iwill particularly describe it. a

I construct my pistol in all essential particulars similar to those nowin use. The barrel, cylinder, lock, and stock are essentially the same.My improvements being entirely additional, it will only be necessary,then, to describe particularly those parts which I have added and theiraction.

Ais the barrel; B,the cylinder; G, the frame inclosin g the cylinder; D,the recoil-plate; E, the hammer; F, the removable side plate; Gr,

the stock; H, the trigger; these parts all essentially as now made.

The first condition to be fulfilled is to cause the cylinder to revolveone stage in the shortest possible time, or with'the smallest possiblemotion of the hammer when that is used as its motor. This accomplish byplacing the dog I as far from the pivot of the hammer as possible, inorder to give it the most rapid motion. Itis necessary that the cylindershould revolve one stage while the hammer is moving to the position ofhalf-cock, and that the further motion of the hammer shall not cause ortend 'to cause the cylinder to move farther. This I accomplish by soarranging the position of the pivot upon which the dog I moves as tocause said center, the center of the pivot of the hammer, and the pointof the dog to be in line with each other when the hammer has been movedto half-cock. The further motion of the hammer toward full-cock willthen tend to draw back the point of the dog, and the cylinder will notbe'caused to turn any farther. With the dog so arranged it becomesnecessary to construct the ratchet J on the end of the cylinder of suchdiameter, and with its teeth so disposed in relation to the chambers asto enable the dog to cause it to turn one stage during the prescribedmotion of the hammer. The required motion of the cylinder having beensecured, we may pass to the devices for removing the cartridge-shell.The first part is the retractor K, which is shown detached in Fig. 10and in position in Figs. 1,2, and 3 and in the diagrams.

The retractor consists of a bolt of any suitable dimension or shape,uponone end of which is the hook-head 7c, and upon the other end is the studl. Surrounding the ratchet J isthe triangular groove or channel M, asshown in Figs. 3, 4, and 9. The inner wall of this channel isperpendicular to the rear face of the cylinder, and its outer wallinclines from'a line which just touches, but does not encroach upon thechambers, and intersects the inner wall at any suitable depth. Theofiice of this channel is to receive the head 70 of the bolt K, so thatwhen said bolt is in position the hook 70 will all be below the surfaceof the rear end of the cylinder and the point of the hook reach underthe flange of any cartridge which may pass it. The bolt K is confined ina sheath,

which is attached to or forms a part of the side plate, F, as shown inFigs. 1, 3, 7, and 8. It lies in a line parallel with the axis of thebarrel and cylinder, and its position in regard to the axis of thecylinder is directly in a line, connecting said axis and the axis of thechamber which is next to the chamber which is in position to be fired.This is clearly shown in Fig. 6. The sheath inclosing the bolt K has aslit on its outer side running from the front end back a distance equalto the length of the retractors motion. Through this slit the head 7cprojects and travels. It also has a slit on its inner side runningforward from its rear end an equal distance, and through this slit thestud 1 projects and travels. (See Figs. 1, 3, and 7.) Attached to theunderside of the rear end of the bolt Kis the spring S, Figs. 7 and 8.For this purpose I prefer to use the spring known as watch-spring,though any other form may be made to answer. Its office is to return theretractor to its place alter being drawn back, as will be hereinafterdescribed. The manner in which I prefer to attach the spring S isclearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

Upon the side of the'hammer E, I place the cam 0. (See Figs. 1, 2, 3,11, and diagrams.) This cam has a journal or pivot, 12, in all respects,except size, like the journal or pivot of the dog I-that is, acylindrical journal extending through the hammer, and with a portion ofits surface filed down fiat, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. In thisflattened notch the end of the spring 4* rests, and it is obvious thatvif the journal is then revolved in either direction the spring a mustbe flexed, as shown by the red lines in Fig. 12. The relative positionof the dog I and cam 0 allows the use of a single strip of spring metalto be used for the two springs, it being confined ata central point, as-

shown at Fig. 12, with each end tree and resting respectively upon thejournal of the dog and cam. The lower end of the cam O rests upon thestop t, which in this case is placed in front, so as to prevent anymotion of the lower end of the cam in that direction. Upon the oppositeend of thejournal p of the cam O is the lever or arm a, (see Figs. 2, 3,l1, and Diagram 16,) by means of which the cam 0 may be turned up intothe position shown in Diagram 15, for a purpose to be hereinafterspecified, in which position it will of itself remain by reason of thespring 4* then resting upon the cylindrical surface of thejournal p,instead of the flat surface of its notch.

Metallic cartridges are frequently imperfect in the distribution ofthefulminate, and it sometimes occurs that the cartridge fails toexplode because there is no fulminate at the point where struck. Inorder to obviate this defect in some measure, as well as to accomplishanother object, which will be referred to, I propose to construct myhammer or other device with two or more noses and to strike thecartridge at as many difl'erent points, thus rendering its explosioncorrespondingly certain.

Practically I think two points the preferable number, because it canvery seldom happen that the two opposite sides of the cartridge will bedeficient in fulminate, if it is charged at all; and with two nosesplaced one above the other, as shown, when the pistol is not actually inuse the cylinder may be so placed as to allow said noses to rest uponthe rear surface of the cylinder, between the cartridges, in a commonand well -kuown manner, thereby rendering an accidental explosion almostimpossible. The pointof the upper nose I make so that it will strikesquare upon the surface of the cartridge, as plainly shown in Fig. 9.The lower nose I construct a little beveling, the lower edge being mostprojected, as shown in the same figure. the flange of the cartridge whenit is only supported by the edge between the chamber and the channel M,so that to insure an explosion from this blow of the lower nose it wouldbe necessary to bevel it in this way to cause it to conform more nearlyto the surface of said channel. Another purpose is also accomplished,which will be seen further on.

Having described the construction of the various parts of my invention,I will now describe its operation.

To load the pistol the cylinder is to be revolved by the fingers and thecartridges placed in each chamber successively as it is brought to theposition shown in Fig.6, where the rear plate is cut away so as to admitthe passage of the cartridge into the chamber. All the chambers havingbeen loaded, the cylinder is brought to the position shown in Fig. 5,when the hammer, being let down, rests between the cartridges and notupon any one of them, and the recoil-plate overlaps and covers everycartridge sufficiently to prevent its removal from its chamber while thecylinder is in this position. It is obvious now that it will not bedesirable to operate the retractor until one cartridge has beenexploded, and to prevent said operation the lever a is turned up to theposition shown by red dots in Diagram 16. This movement of u brings thecam O to the position shown in Diagram 15, in which position it willremain of itself, and while so placed it will pass entirely over thestud Z without touching it; but before the hammer reaches full-cock theend of the cam 0 comes in contact with the plate W, which, as the hammeris still further drawn back, causes that end of the cam O to movedownward until the spring 0 takes effect and brings it down to itsnormal position in contact with the stop 2. Pull the trigger, the hammerdescends, and the cartridge is exploded.

The effect of the blow upon the flange is shown in Fig. 9. The uppernose indents a portion in the usual way, while the lower nose notonlyindcnts, but bends it down, so that the lower surface of the flangeis just at that point made slightly hooked in form, as shown in the samefigure. The cam 0, when the hammer Now, this nose will strike descends,passes over the stud l, as shown in Diagram 14. The stud strikingit onthe front side, the cam moves backward and slips over the stud, thespring 7' returning it to its position instantly upon passing clear ofthe stud. The pistol having been fired once, the act of recockin g thepiece preparatory to another discharge rotates the cylinder and removesfrom its chamber the shell of the cartridge which has just beenexploded. Thisis accomplished as follows: As has been specified, themotion of the hammer from rest to half-cock causes the cylinder torevolve one stage, and this brings'the cartridge which'has just beenfired into the position shown in Figs. 3 and 6, or so that the flangeprojects over the hook k, as there shown. When,now, the hammer movesfrom half-cock to cock the cam 0 comes in contact with the stud 1, (seeFig. 3 and Diagram 13, in which latter the black lines indicate theposition at rest, the red at half-cock, and the blue at full-cock,) andpresses it backward, causing the bolt K to slide in its sheath, so as towithdraw the head 70 from the channel M, and as the hook 70 extendsunder the flange of the cartridge, and at that particular part where theflange has been bent down a little so that the hook it cannot slip off,and the cartridgc-shell is of necessity withdrawn from its chamber bysaid hook, and withdrawn sufficiently far to be entirely clear of thechamber, whence it will fall of its own weight to the ground. (See Fig.3.) The position of the parts are so arranged that the retractor will bemoved far enough to withdraw the cartridge entirely from the cylinderbefore the hammer reaches the position of full-cock, and they are alsoso arranged that immediately after having withdrawn the retractorsufficiently far, as above stated, and before the position of full-cockhas been reached, the upperend of the cam 0 will have passed below theplane of motion of the stud l, and said stud will therefore be releasedfrom the cam O, and the spring S will instantly return the bolt K to itsnormal position, with the head It resting in the channel M. If it bedesired, a new cartridge may' now be inserted in this vacantchamber; or,it it be not desirable or there is not time, the whole of the chambersmay be fired in succession, each shell being removed by the act ofrecocking the piece immediately after each explosion.

The advantages of a device which will opcrate without consuming time andextra movements are too obvious to need comment, and I will simply pointout the fact that by my plan the frame of the pistol may be made solidand, to all intents and purposes. the cylinder unre- Inovable, therebyrendering it possible to construct the pistol with greater strength andsolidity.

My invention is also applicable to those pistols in which metalliccartridges are used, and which are inserted at the front end of thecylinder. In that case the motion of the bolt K is reversed, beingpushed forward by the descent of the hammer or by any suitable devicewhich might be operated by the motion of the hammer while the pistol isbeing cooked, the channel M would bedispensed with, and the cylindermight be operated without any change of parts. The stop it would then beplaced behind, instead of in t'rontof the cam O, and otherwise thearrangements would be similar. The bolt K might be caused to operatethrough the orifice in the rear of the chamber through which the nose ofthe hammer had operated in exploding the cartridge. This is sufficientlyillustrated by Diagram 17.

Having described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with an automatic device for removing the shell of anexploded metallic cartridge from its chamber in the cylinder, a deviceby means of which said automatic device may be prevented from operatingwhen it is not desirable that it should operate.

2. In combination with the hammer of the lock of a revolving fire arm,the cam O, the bolt K, and spring S, substantially as described, and forthe purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the bolt K, the channel M, substantially asdescribed, and for the purpose set forth.

, 4. In combination with the cam O, the lever u, and plate W,substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

5. In combination with the cylinder of a revolvin g fire-arm, a deviceto cause the said cylinder to revolve one stage during the first half ofthe motion of the hammer from rest to fullcock.

R. D. 0. SMITH. Witnesses:

JOHN S. HOLLINGSHEAD, J OHN D. BLooR.

